Group POV: (Dream Fragment)
The journey to the grove was slow.
Not because of the distance — the grove lay only a few hours from the sanctuary — but because every one of them was held together by exhaustion, pain, and sheer stubbornness.
The forest watched them pass.
Branches leaned low, brushing their shoulders like worried hands. The wind whispered through the leaves, carrying the faint echo of the Hollow's distant hunger.
Rowan limped at the front, jaw clenched against the pain.
Aeris stayed close to Rielun, steadying him whenever his too‑new legs faltered.
Noctis walked behind them, shadows flickering like restless wings.
Elias carried Sylas, though his steps grew heavier with every mile.
Rielun kept glancing back at Sylas — pale, still, unmoving.
Guilt gnawed at him.
He shouldn't have done that for me.
But he had.
And now Sylas paid the price.
The grove appeared just as the sun dipped low — a ring of ancient trees carved with faint lunar markings, their roots woven into a natural barrier.
Elias exhaled in relief. "We're safe here. For now."
They settled beneath the largest tree, its trunk hollowed into a natural shelter. Rowan collapsed first, groaning as he stretched his injured leg. Aeris guided Rielun to sit beside him. Noctis took up watch at the grove's edge.
Elias lowered Sylas onto a bed of moss, brushing a hand over his forehead.
And then—
Sylas stirred.
A soft sound escaped him — a breath, a groan, a whisper of life returning.
Rielun froze.
Sylas's eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first… then sharpening.
He saw the canopy.
The grove.
The others.
And then his gaze landed on Rielun.
He stared.
Not in confusion.
Not in fear.
But in stunned, breathless recognition.
"Rielun…?" Sylas's voice was rough, barely a whisper.
Rielun swallowed. "I… yes. It's me."
Sylas pushed himself up on trembling elbows, eyes wide. "You're— older."
Rielun nodded, unsure how to explain the impossible. "Elias said… this is how old I was when I died."
Sylas's breath hitched. "You look… like yourself."
Rielun blinked. "You knew me?"
Sylas's expression flickered — grief, longing, something unspoken — before he looked away.
"I… don't know," he whispered. "It feels like I should."
Aeris stepped in gently. "You need rest. Both of you."
Sylas didn't argue. Exhaustion dragged him back down, and he drifted into sleep again — but this time, peacefully.
One by one, the others settled.
Rowan leaned against the tree, eyes half‑closed.
Aeris curled beside Rielun.
Noctis kept watch, shadows coiled like a protective cloak.
Elias sat with his back to the trunk, head bowed in silent thought.
Rielun lay down last.
The grove hummed softly around him, a lullaby of leaves and moonlight.
Sleep pulled him under.
Rielun's Dream Fragment
Moonlight.
Cold, silver, sharp.
He stood in a clearing — older, stronger, the age he was now. The trees around him glowed faintly, their leaves trembling as if afraid.
A voice whispered his name.
Not Aeris.
Not Sylas.
Not Elias.
Someone else.
Someone familiar.
Someone whose face he still couldn't see.
"Rielun— run!"
He turned.
A shadow tore through the trees — tall, jagged, wrong. The Hollow's hunger made flesh. It lunged toward him, its form shifting like smoke and bone.
The moon above cracked.
A sound like shattering glass split the sky.
A beam of moonlight struck the clearing, severing something — a bond, a tether, a lifeline — and the world lurched.
His chest burned.
His breath caught.
His soul tore.
The guardian reached for him — hand outstretched, desperate, trembling.
"Rielun—!"
But the shadow struck first.
Pain.
Light.
Falling.
The guardian's scream echoed through the clearing — raw, broken, grieving.
And then—
Darkness.
Rielun jolted awake, gasping.
Aeris stirred beside him. "Rielun—? What happened?"
Rielun pressed a shaking hand to his chest. "I… I saw it. The moment before I died."
Elias's eyes snapped open. "Tell me."
Rielun swallowed hard.
"The moon… it broke something. A bond. And then something came for me. Something from the Hollow. And the guardian— they tried to save me. They screamed my name."
Aeris whispered, "Do you remember who?"
Rielun shook his head, tears burning his eyes. "No. Their face… their voice… it's still hidden."
Elias exhaled slowly, the weight of prophecy settling over him.
"Then the path to the Moon‑Carved Haven is beginning to open."
The grove fell silent.
The next storm was already on its way.